April - 1999 - issue > Business

What happens when cultures collide? Are salaries all that matter? Some US companies walk a myopic tightrope when hiring workers from abroad by merely ensuring that an employee’s skill set matches those required by the technical job description. The crucial elements of success — communication skills and interaction across cultures — are often overlooked and underestimated at the outset. And thus the frustrated “How can we stop losing these people?” often indicates a naivete about a few significant preventive measures.
Salaries matter, but on-going support and an atmosphere of professional camaraderie and respect can greatly enhance the staying power of these engineers. The fallout of having disenchanted workers can be: unmet targets due to an inability to retain professionals and, high recruitment and replacement costs; inability of highly skilled software engineers to realize their potential; an aura of inefficiency around the foreign worker due to a lack of cultural orientation that will consequently detract from the company’s overall image of efficiency; major losses due to miscommunication and miscalculated decisions that were based on culturally inappropriate marketing/negotiation strategies. The possible outcome: loss of customer faith. And that is bad for business and company morale.
Worse still is the possible tarnished reputation of many brilliant, savvy and capable Indian software engineers because they may, unknowingly, be put in the same category as the uninitiated newcomer. And even the skilled engineers may pay the price: loss of future contracts. The situation is likely to get worse.
Until now, the more Westernized engineers were selected for foreign assignments. But the increasing demand for skilled professionals has diminished the eligible pool in India and other countries. India is rightfully very proud of the recent surge of Indian professionals heading major US corporations (consider the top executives of McKinsey, Rohm & Haas, Computer Associates etc.) Importing unprepared employees deprives India of the opportunity to showcase its culture and build a pan-Indian image. Adequate cultural preparation can help Indian IT professionals fulfill this role better.

Has This Happened To You?
As a case in point, consider the representative example of Raman Matthews. Born in a village near Bangalore, he excelled in the computer classes that his family worked hard to fund. When a “body shop,” DreamUSA, recruited him as a software engineer in the US, Raman was delighted to be selected. Now, with a salary of $35,000 a year, Raman has arrived and also made his entire family’s dream come true.
Or so he thought. New Jersey was colder than he had expected. Language and other communication-related difficulties affected his confidence. He often stared at his computer, not quite sure what to do, but too hesitant to ask questions. He began to wonder how his co-workers really perceived him. He was not sure they welcomed his conscientious and detailed queries. At lunch, he and his fellow Indian newcomers felt quite isolated. His US colleagues wondered why these Indians were so insular and why their food smelled so different. They said, “Great to see you. Glad that you are here.” But somehow Raman was not at all sure they meant it. Coming to the US seemed to be an anti-climax. He was not sure if, as a foreigner, he would be able to really rise in this country. His ideas were often ignored, but the same ideas were accepted if someone else voiced it differently. Besides, the grand $35,000 didn’t go very far in the US. No one seemed to acknowledge his good work. So when a Texas firm advertised an opening, Raman hoped that maybe this time around he could get closer to the American dream. He was ready to jump ship and DreamUSA was about to lose one more worker, along with his technical contribution and the significant financial investment they had made in him over the past year.

Finishing School in a Handy Manual
Another case in point: a large IT firm in India, IT World, has been sending software engineers to the US, Japan, Germany and other countries. Not only do many of their personnel jump ship after going to these countries (especially in the US), but they have also heard some grave rumblings of dissatisfaction from their US clients about the inability of the Indian engineers to adapt to American culture and social milieu. To remedy this, IT World has prepared a cultural manual for engineers abroad on personal and business etiquette and other survival skills. A year later, IT World’s management is puzzled at the lack of improvement. The director of human resources comments, “We have such a good manual, and our managers even gave them a great lecture on all the pitfalls to avoid. But these boys just don’t seem to get it. We may lose some business.”
A US company, Interola, has hired IT software engineers from several developing countries — China, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam and others. The management of Interola complains of a high turnover rate. They comment, “Although the engineers are highly qualified, they seem unable to make apt responses to professional requests, take initiative or work as a team. So, many of the Indian newcomers seem ineligible for promotions or lead positions and are unable to inspire the needed confidence, although technically, they are very capable. They seem bent on maintaining their own ways and staying in their own groups.”
The management, however, also notes that Indians who have overcome this initial barrier are headed for the top. Many junior software engineer “transplants” have the following comments: “I’m not sure I really belong in this place.” “Whatever I do, I rarely get any acknowledgment or praise.” “I used to be at the top of my class and was considered the best qualified when I came here, but now I often feel as if I am not living up to their expectations.” “I know I will not rise much in this company, because I am not American.” “People want me to change and adapt, but I don’t want to be like them. I have my own values, and I want my family and children to maintain them.”
At this point, Interola is not sure whether it is cost-effective to continue to invest in foreign workers.

What Went Wrong?
Case Analysis: what do these situations have in common? Each of the scenarios described above exemplifies all or some of the common mistakes described here. Major cultural differences (such as those that crop up in dealing with a company’s hierarchy, in communicating, in taking initiative, in the manner of responding to requests) are ignored or neglected. The corporations are naive about the long-term repercussions on business. For example, inappropriate decisions are made and unrealistic targets set. These have serious financial implications.
Bad morale affects efficiency and output, and certainly does not fuel the creative spirit. Motivating and guiding these newcomers to understand the task and commit themselves to a deadline, and encouraging them to work toward it wholeheartedly, often involves more patience on the part of US colleagues in the beginning — more than they may need to give a US worker.

Cultural Blindness
US and foreign workers are often unable to see themselves as others see them. US workers often have issues of language and accent with foreign workers, but are usually unaware that it is a mutual problem, even if both parties speak English fluently. This initial difficulty should be acknowledged with humor. Both parties may need to speak more slowly and should feel free to ask for repetitions or rephrasing for clarification. Summarizing helps to clarify as well. The Indian engineer is often unaware that verbosity is very hard on Americans, who generally like co-workers to be succinct and logical in their business communication. Also, the role of a boss in the minds of these new entrants is often more structured and formal — they usually expect a “You protect me, I obey you” relationship, not just a “You tell me the goals and leave it to me to figure out the way.” In addition, they are prone to think, “My boss is not acting like a boss. He does not seem to care about my advancement.” Newly arrived foreign engineers need clear guidelines and ongoing feedback and support, especially at the outset. This will help harness their personal loyalty (a strong cultural trait) and commitment to their group, which are likely to curb a migratory survival response.

Let’s Do It Internally & Save
There is a reluctance to employ professional assistance in assessing and addressing the cross-cultural business issues involved in orientation, training and coaching of these personnel. Companies are often unaware that re-orientation and behavioral changes involve a complex process, and that an objective professional assessment of team interactions needs to be made by professionals, not their internal HR assistants.

Information Solution
Particularly on the part of IT professionals there is a genuine, though rather naïve, belief that “information” in the form of manuals and lectures can bring about a change in culturally ingrained behavior, attitudes and perceptions. Clearly, there is an under-estimation of the depth of these issues, professional intervention and the processes to address them.
Applying these pointers, let’s re-examine the case studies. Raman, like so many newly-arrived Indian software engineers, cannot fathom why his American colleagues don’t appreciate him. All his 30 years he was comfortably part of the mainstream majority in India. On the other hand, his well-intentioned colleagues here are amazed that Raman does not see how “out of whack” his behavior is. They have no idea that their own behavior is forcing Raman to go deeper and deeper into his shell.
Interola, like many other US IT firms, believes itself to be a culturally diverse organization, welcoming engineers from various parts of the world. It cannot see that its environment inhibits foreign engineers from contributing their best. And foreign engineers do not see that they need to learn the norms and adapt in order to be respected in this new cultural business environment.
IT World, like so many Indian software companies, does not realize that it has not fully grasped the magnitude of the cultural difference. It believes it is adequately addressing the issue and cannot see that it needs professional assistance. At IT World they consider themselves “internationally savvy,” well-traveled, professional businesspeople. Cross-cultural relations is an emerging, but highly researched and professional discipline — a fact recognized by leading US MNCs. Several American, European and Japanese businesspeople exploit these insights a great deal more than Indian companies, and gain a competitive advantage with them. Many US firms (among them Lucent Technologies, Motorola, IBM and AT&T) very carefully and professionally prepare their senior executives cross-culturally before sending them on assignments abroad. Companies like FMC and Dupont incorporate cultural insights as part of their entry strategies into a country. This is not yet an accepted practice in Indian businesses. It is usually not part of an Indian Company’s budget. Through such short-term cost-cutting, they lose out on this valuable training.
In the US, programs in “Relocation Training and Destination Services” like the ones at FMC and Dupont are considered normal benefits for expatriates, and essential in preparing them for business success. Indian expatriates, in contrast, can be handicapped by this void in training because Indian companies are unable to “see themselves as others see them.”

Possible Solutions
How can we do it right? The above-mentioned scenarios can and do happen. But the opposite can and does happen, too. Some of the most prominent leaders of US businesses come from the Indian-American community. What needs to be done to enhance this positive record? Some suggestions: software engineers brought in from India need to be selected on the basis of technical skills and — whenever possible — on their ability to adapt to the culture they are going to. They also need to have a pre-departure cultural orientation in India. Destination services and living assistance should be provided to support these engineers when they arrive in a new country. Remedying settling-in problems will help them focus on their professional commitments. The host company needs to be briefed on how to deal with Indian software engineers before they receive them, and after some interactions have occured.
Incorporating feedback from the engineers and the host company’s personnel, in-country cross-cultural training should be given to the foreign engineers when they have been on the job for about a month. The host (US managers) should also be involved in the training. US companies should accept only engineers who have been cross-culturally trained, and they should be willing to share the cost of that enhanced quality of personnel. Companies that source personnel on a large scale should have a trained cross-cultural business management specialist on hand to troubleshoot situations and coach individuals as needed. Indeed, many companies are starting just such a program to assist in retention, but often without real professional insights.
Companies employing Indian-American engineers on a regular basis should educate their own employees by holding professional workshops on working with Indians, as many leading companies like Texas Instruments do. Indian software engineers in the US and other countries should develop networking skills to gather support for some of the issues they may be dealing with. Expatriate old-timers could offer their input and “cyber-support” to newcomers. Indian professional organizations in the US could take this on as one of their service projects. A buddy system or mentoring system could be developed in host companies. However, this may not be feasible for bulk and short-term assignments. Manuals to educate the host corporation about their Indian engineers and a similar one about the US or host culture for Indians coming in, can help professionals, but only as memory-joggers or guides to accompany an in-person seminar, and only in addition to face-to –face training.
Since this is becoming an issue that affects the reputation of the Indian business community worldwide, I believe some apex business associations in India — perhaps even the Indian government or embassies — could generate assistance for some of the above suggestions. If neglected, it will quickly become the source of increased inefficiency and its inevitable consequences, with some US companies losing faith in this valuable resource. It could also diminish India’s national reputation and prestige. Lucrative job opportunities may be lost to engineers from other markets who are eager to enter this growing arena which, so far, has been dominated by India. If handled appropriately, India would have proficient professional representatives worldwide that it could be proud of, as its highly skilled and brilliant software engineers continue to be in demand around the globe.